Boris Johnson off and Running in England

Bill Wirtz writes at The American Conservative that Boris Johnson, England’s next prime minister, has the opportunity to “go down in history as one of the UK’s most effective leaders” if he can “strike a good deal,” in Brexit negotiations. Here Wirtz explains what Johnson has ahead of him as he takes his place at Number 10 Downing Street. Wirtz writes (abridged):

Yesterday’s vote in the British Conservative Party confirmed that Boris Johnson will become the United Kingdom’s next prime minister.

Johnson beat his opponent, Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jeremy Hunt, by a margin of 92,153 to 46,656 among Conservative voters. Prime Minister Theresa May had stepped down after her efforts to reach a deal with the European Union regarding the UK’s exit from the bloc were repeatedly rejected in the House of Commons.

The Conservative Party is currently a minority government, relying on the Northern Irish Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) to get measures passed. Since the prime minister post is not directly elected, the ruling political party’s leader automatically becomes head of government.

The 55-year-old has a massive vocabulary and is known for his colorful columns and even more colorful insults. In 2013, when he was mayor, he called the London assembly “great, supine, protoplasmic, invertebrate jellies,” getting a laugh even from those who had just voted to remove him from the assembly room.

Brexiteers have assured their critics that technological improvements can make the process smooth and unseemly, and that tariffs would only come into effect if the EU were to take that step. From a UK standpoint, no border would need to be erected.

If he manages to strike a good deal for the United Kingdom, he will go down in history as one of the UK’s most effective leaders.

Read more here.